Sir Kenneth Branagh encourages Newtownabbey schoolchildren to get writing

Sir Kenneth addressed 200 young people and their teachers at a special screening of his new movie based on his own childhood.

He said: “Everyone has a unique, special story that’s just theirs. And it’s important to me that those stories get told, because everyone is different and that’s what makes things interesting.”

The Into Film Festival runs until the end of the month at schools across Northern Ireland with a series of free screenings and resources such as the Story Builder writing tool available all year round.

Kenneth Branagh, who is Northern Ireland Ambassador for Into Film, was joined by young actors Jude Hill and Lewis McAskie at the first festival event of 2021 held at Movie House Cityside in Belfast.

They spoke to young people from Hazelwood Integrated College, Belfast High School, Ashfield Girls School and South West Regional College.

Into Film, an education charity, is encouraging young people to follow Kenneth Branagh’s advice and tell their stories using a new resource Story Builder, a writing tool developed by the team in Northern Ireland.

Story Builder captures pupils’ imaginations and allows them space to create and build their own stories as if developing a film. This is a free resource, which allows pupils to work alone or collaboratively to develop characters, build their story arc, decide on settings and design their very own movie posters.

Into Film Project Delivery Officer Naomh Cullen, explained: “Northern Ireland people are renowned for amazing story-telling and Kenneth Branagh encouraged the students to express themselves. Every person has a story to tell and our team developed Story Builder to help young people find their voice and get their stories out into the world. Story Builder is now being used in schools across Northern Ireland and teachers have found it a real asset in the classroom.

“Kenneth Branagh used his own experiences as a young boy to write Belfast. We want to encourage young people across Northern Ireland to be our next great story teller and Story Builder gives them a place to start.”

The Into Film Festival is hosted by Into Film, a film education charity supported by the BFI through National Lottery funding and made possible with support from Cinema First and the UK film industry. The National Lottery raises £36 million each week for good causes across the UK.

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